Sunday, February 15, 2015

Search warrants show the suspect in the shooting deaths of three
Muslim college students in North Carolina had a stash of a dozen
firearms in the home he shared with his wife, along with a large cache
of ammunition.

Records filed in Durham County Superior Court on
Friday list items recovered by police from the Chapel Hill condominium
of Craig Stephen Hicks, the 46-year-old charged with three counts of
murder.

The warrants show four handguns recovered from the Hicks
home, in addition to a pistol the suspect had with him when arrested.
The warrants also list two shotguns and six rifles, including a
military-style AR-15 carbine. Police also recovered numerous loaded
magazines and cases of ammunition.

Eight spent shell-casings were found in the neighboring apartment of the young couple killed.

12 comments:

I know it makes for something to show the news is staying on top of things, but the number of guns he owns has exactly zero to do with what he did. The only firearms that matter are the ones used. In this case, a high capacity five shot revolver, though he seems to have been in possession of a second handgun when arrested. Time will tell if both were used.

As you say below, SSG, the sparse details given here don't sound that out of the ordinary for a gun collection. If he used a five shot revolver in this murder that strikes me as a more interesting factor considering the 8 shell casings found on the ground--makes me think of the trial scene at the beginning of Shawshank Redemption where the prosecutor talks about the reloading of the revolver and additional shots showing that the actions were that of a calculating, intentional murder (If I'm remembering the movie right--not seen it for 10 years).

The nature of the crime alone, gunning down an entire family, strike me as enough for a first degree conviction, but if he was going around shooting them repeatedly and reloading in order to make sure he finished the job, that should make the prosecutor's job that much easier.

I just hope that the prosecutor takes it to trial and goes for the maximum rather than taking the lazy way out and accepting a plea deal that this guy will likely want.

Holy cow Mike, i better call ripleys because I agree with your comment. In all serious though you are correct that the number of guns reported here isn't very substantial. I myself own more than that, and most shooters own several. I compete and own a pistol for each class I compete in, I own my duty Firearm as well as a long range target ar15 and the one I use in 3 gun.

I'm afraid I have to disagree with you on your analysis based on the numbers or types of firearms owned. Some people have attempted to make much of his affiliations and interests based on social media. And others have been quick to say that these indicators cant be used. If the more overt indicators present cant be used to get a read on his motivations, its going to be a challenge to do the same based on some sort of mysterious calculus based on amounts and types of firearms owned. I imagine eventually we'll get a better read on his motivations through the course of the investigation which will be based on good old police work. I suppose your analysis would also say something of me since my collection is roughly on per with this person's